Share this article

Rome Fiumicino airport's Terminal Three, which was severely damaged by a fire in early May, will reopen by the end of July.

Passengers have faced persistent disruption over the past few months after capacity at the airport was reduced to 60 percent. The fire caused the closure of the security gates at terminal three, which handles international flights.

But Fiumicino mayor, Esterino Montino, was quoted by Ansa as telling a Senate panel inquiry on Tuesday that the terminal would reopen by the end of the month. However, he added that the terminal still needs “extensive renovation”.

An exact opening date is yet to be set.

Fiumicino plunged into chaos after the overnight blaze on May 7th, which was triggered by an electrical fault.

It took more than five hours to bring the fire fully under control, by which point it had devastated a shopping area with a string of up-market boutiques.

Montino added that the damage was made worse because the terminal was “already old and needed extensive maintenance work”, adding that underestimations of the extent of the fire's damage slowed progress towards reopening.

International airlines have been forced to scrap or reroute flights. Several British Airways' flights to London have been rerouted to Naples, much to the fury of passengers, many of whom only found out about the switch after attempting to check-in online.

Share this article

From our sponsors

Ranked among the world's best young universities in the QS Top 50 Under 50, Linköping University (LiU) uses innovative learning techniques that prepare its students to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.